Intermarché – a big supermarket chain in France – decided it was time to save an endangered species from the rubbish bin; ugly duckling fruit and veg. In the UK a whopping 40% of greens don’t reach our shelves simply for being a bit unfortunate looking and globally we waste $750 billion worth of food each year. Ouch.

Patrice de Villiers took beautiful, glowing pictures of the fruit and veg for the campaign, giving them their moment to shine centre stage. Ad agency Marcel also made a funny jaunty promo video; it’s like The X-Factor of the produce world and we’re all cheering for the ones with the sob story. French shoppers were offered their lumpy cucumbers and mutant carrots 30% cheaper than their perfect siblings, and chose price over prettiness – making the experiment a roaring success. They even had a second chance as soups and juices too. A true tale of the triumph of the underdog. —Great ad campaign encourages customers to buy oddly shaped fruit